Kenyan star Nandwa named Southland defender of the year

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Former Junior Starlets and Rising Starlets star Judith Nandwa has been voted NCAA Division One, Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

The Mumias-born former Butere Girls Senior School defender, who now plays for East Texas A&M University in the United States, earned a spot on the All-Southland Conference first team following her stellar collegiate regular season. With this achievement, Nandwa made history after becoming the first player in the university’s Division One era to be crowned the conference’s top defender. The recognition came barely a few days after she won the league's Defender of the Week award.

From her days with the Red Commandos, it was evident that Nandwa was destined for football greatness. At Butere, she established herself as a formidable defensive anchor for her side, leading to their dominance in school games that saw the Red Commandos win two national titles in a row (2023 and 2024). She was named Western Regional Games best player and also bagged the golden boot award.

Her remarkable consistency in school competitions quickly caught the eyes of national team selectors, earning her a pivotal call to the Kenya U17 national team, Junior Starlets. She was instrumental in the Junior Starlets' historic campaign that earned the country a FIFA U-17 World Cup debut in 2024, though she didn’t travel with the team to the Dominican Republic for the global event. Nandwa, being a candidate, then opted out of the World Cup squad to focus on her national examination.

Her sacrifice paid off when she performed extremely well in the national exam, KCSE, scoring a B+, which, together with her football talent, earned her a scholarship to play collegiate football in the US. Since arriving at East Texas in September 2025, Nandwa has adapted seamlessly to the fast-paced American collegiate game. She has been instrumental in her university team’s campaign, starting in 18 matches this season and has since played 1,577 minutes on the backline. She scored her first goal for the Lions, which was a match-winner at UTRGV last week, as they went on to qualify for the play-offs that kicked off yesterday.